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Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:04 am
He worried that the red-haired captain, or any other for that matter, might take advantage again of the simplicity of trees, benches and passers-by that the parks in evening afforded. Even just sitting, they could have their will without drawing attention. So her returned as often as he could for quick run-by's through the parks on his way to jog past each of the schools. So far there were no ill power signatures running through the back of his awareness. He kept going. Past the third bench, over some hedges and through tangles of mountain laurel, and then- He felt another power, just at the edges of his sense. It wasn't chaos. What was it even? It didn't feel the same as Aquarius', so it wasn't one of 'the Guard'. It wasn't a sailor scout. It wasn't a cat. It was curious, despite that. He paused for a brief count of breaths, then made directly for the signature, only slowing when he was closing near it to look around for the source as he jogged. He stopped and stood under the flickering of a park lamp as it dimly fought to light in the autumn evening. Like as not there are plenty of things that wander the night. Though this one feels clean. Whom is the bearer of this candle in the dark?
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2013 11:11 pm
Aventine was not her most graceful that evening, but then again—it was starting to get cooler as the nights went on, and she was still figuring out how the hell you were supposed to balance the two sides that came with her power.
You would think after a year she'd have everything figured out, but she still found herself learning new things by the day. There were weeks that she didn't power up, and weeks where she powered up every other day.
She wasn't going to shirk on her duties, but she wasn't ready to give up being normal, either.
So, she'd opted to eat dinner while out tonight. Theoretically the chilli-dog should have been easy enough to eat before someone found her; she had only gotten it a minute ago before retreating to power up in private.
It was halfway gone when she felt another energy signature—friendly, but close, so she hastily shoved the rest of it in her mouth.
She hadn't been fast enough to get it all down before the senshi came into view. Cheeks puffed up like a squirrels as she tried to chew the remnants, she raised her hand in a sort of awkward wave—an effort to present a friendly greeting—before trying to forcibly swallow the lump of hastily chewed food.
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Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:30 pm
It looked like it was a woman, and very, very much a presence in pink. Is it legal to wear that much pink out in public if it isn't the 1700s? Didn't it used to associate as romanticism and seduction? How suggestive. She certainly looks ready for the court of the Sun King with all those ruffles.But with squirreled out cheeks and a posture that looked a little uncertain, or pained, or hurried- Thraen wasn't really sure, the woman didn't seem to pose a very provocative demeanor. Maybe she was just unlucky with the rest of them. Hopefully she liked the colour she was doomed to wear so very much of. Thraen lifted his hand in return and slowed to trot and walk to approach, giving her a moment to collect herself. There was a distinct scent of....hot dog. I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. A hot dog would be really nice right now."Well met. ..I'd never felt...someone with your signature, so I thought to check out who or what I'd come across. I'm Sailor Thraen, " He held out his hand- since he was the one coming on her unawares, it seemed, it was only polite to start with an introduction. Especially since he was interrupting a lady's meal, hot dog or not, "I didn't mean to rush you."
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 12:01 pm
Aventine waved her hand dismissively, forcing a smile as the last of the meal left her mouth. "No, no! No rush," she insisted, and made sure there wasn't any food residue on her hand before she extended it and gave him a hearty shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sailor Thraen."
She wasn't entirely discrete about giving him a quick look over—and she liked what she saw. "You've never met a knight before? Or, well. I mean, obviously." She laughed for good measure, though took a step back so she could properly introduce herself. "I'm Aventine, Squire of Venus. And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Thraen. Have you been out doing this for very long?"
She had been out for a while before she had met someone from every group in this war—though, she couldn’t even be certain she had since new people always seemed to be showing up—so she wasn’t surprised if he hadn't met a squire before. On the contrary, she found herself a bit excited.
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 12:19 pm
Aventine?Thraen offered a casual smile to hopefully indicate it was a polite joke, "You look more of Versailles than Rome." "That's near the Circus Maximus, isn't it? And has the Rome Rose Garden. ...well, here at least." On Earth. She said she's a 'of Venus', so is she supposed to be from Venus the way I'm supposed to be from a tiny rock in the asteroid belt?"I've been around since...near Valentine's...eight months or so. But...no, I've not met a knight. I heard of them from the primer and Eternal Athene. He suggested if I wanted to learn about them I should look for Camelot. But so far as I know, Arthurian scholars have been looking for Camelot for centuries without any luck, so what were my chances? I've been to Rome, though. Back in High School. " "The knights, ....or...squires?... protect against the Negaverse and the Mirror as well? Are you squired to another knight then?" He looked around in case some armored woman like Joan of Arc on a charger was going to come out of nowhere with a lance and brain him for harassing her squire.
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Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 3:43 pm
Whereas Aventine had to spend a long time flitting across websites to learn anything about her wonder, she seemed surprised that this fellow knew so much right off the bat.
"You know, I'm impressed. I can't say I've ever met someone who knew anything about Aventine before meeting me. But—you're right." She smiled. "I've never been, myself, but it's…you know, a work in progress."
She really had to visit her wonder one of these days, but she just couldn’t shake the feeling that she was going to regret it.
Maybe she'd wait just a little longer. She'd talk to Caelian, see what she knew about it.
"But—Athene, you said? Oh, he's precious, I hope he's doing well. But if you're looking for someone to teach you anything, definitely Camelot is the man to go to. He's been around for a while. I mean, not the mythical Camelot. Though, he might be able to get there." She shrugged, continuing, "He's a sort of older guy, mostly brown hair, decked out in pretty armor. He's a knight—that is, stronger than me. From what I've gathered, like how the senshi can get stronger, so can we. We start out as pages, and then when we prove ourselves we turn into squire." She wasn't sure what criteria would get her to that stage, but she knew what came next. "And knight comes next. I've only met one Knight, and that's Camelot. But, he's an Earth knight, whereas I serve Venus. So—to answer that last question, no. I'm not serving under any other knight or anything," or if she was supposed to be, she certainly hadn't met them, "The whole planet. So I guess I've kinda got a dual job, protect Earth and Venus. Or, at least, that's how it feels. I've never been to Venus, but this is my home so…"
She shrugged and let out a partially exasperated sigh. "I guess it's all sort of complicated. It'd be great if this whole thing came with a manual, but it just feels like so much of it is up to interpretation. Well—except for the protecting against the Negaverse and, ah 'the Mirror'—is that like, the Dark Mirror Senshi? Because, definitely we're against them, too. Any group dedicated to hurting people, we're against."
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 1:10 pm
"Ah..Well, “ How to explain without giving too much away? "I study. A lot. Roman culture, architecture and Art, and most of the Mediterranean for that matter, has been a big part of that. To the point of a whole summer vacation spent there. " The sheer amount of stonework decorative and otherwise had been exhaustive, in a good way, for him. It had made leaps of progress happen in his own sculpture, to have spent the time effort and energy, and he could hardly forget the experience. Maybe someday, if there was an end to the nightmare, he'd be able to go abroad again to study Dark Age woodcarving, gothic art, or Shinto statuary. It was all engrossing, or it used to be, before much of his time was taken up by the second life they all shared. He offered the last to hopefully set her at ease, “We’re all a work in progress.” It was a little sad that their titles weren’t actually related to a mentorship system- it would have put them in better standing than the senshi sink-or-swim system. Another thing to share? “Last I knew he was well. It haven’t seen him in a long while.” Hopefully the other senshi wouldn’t mind being called ‘precious’ in the diminutive sense. Thraen wouldn’t offer it if he saw the senshi of beads again. The description of Camelot was welcome though- something more definite to go off of instead of following the Python example and finding himself a patsy and some coconuts. “Is there a ruler of Venus that you serve directly? Or of Earth? That would be helpful…Since for our own, there’s no actual White Moon Court, for as often as it’s referred to. ” The senshi of Gardens had grave suspicions that the answer was negative- if there was no manual and she was talking about a somewhat lack of direction- there probably wasn’t a present directing force for either Venus or Earth. And all the senshi were their own supposed heads, bearing names for their stars and Asteroids. Are their Senshi for planets? For the star of this solar system? I don’t know if that is good or bad. Maybe it just is. "I'm glad, either way, that there are others out standing against the long dark. "
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Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2013 12:22 pm
"I'm thrilled there are so many people out there," Aventine said; in a way, it was a relief to know that there was always going to be someone out there. Almost every night she went out she found someone else fighting for the good of the world.
Of course, there was the constant nagging: if there were so many good guys, why were they still fighting this war? Why hadn't they totally overwhelmed the forces of Chaos yet?
She didn't want to dwell on the thought and drifted back to an earlier topic—Venus. "If there is a ruler, I've never met them. Here or Earth. I mean, I'd love to have a few words with whoever's supposed to be watching out for them. Not doing too good a job. Well, on Earth at least. I've never actually been to Venus. Maybe one day. Apparently knights have these 'Wonders'—places they're supposed to protect. I haven't been to mine—but I have been to Troy. And I'm quite confident it wasn't in Europe. The knight I went with—that is, Troy, he's a Chronos Knight. And all he had to do to get there was close his eyes, focus, and we were there. And so was this creepy ghost guy but I guess there isn't anything that should surprise us."
Aventine shifted positions. "Sometimes when I'm trying to talk about this, I can't help but feel crazy. Sorry. All I know is that some knights can get in touch with the, ah, ruler of their planets. So I suppose there's someone, out there, whose job is supposed to protect Venus. But maybe they're just gone, somewhere else. Or maybe they haven't awakened. Or," he hesitated. "Maybe the Negaverse got to them before they had a chance to introduce themselves to the rest of us."
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Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:39 pm
"Are there many?" He considered, looking off in a thousand yard stare for a moment. "Not on Earth? And ghosts people...why not? According to books my asteroid was named after some German astronomer, but its somehow Thraen just the same. I talked with Zodiac soldier named Aquarius, and she mentioned a thousand years and reincarnation, so maybe that all has something to do with it. " He gave a quiet nod when she gave a run down of possible fates to occur to someone they didn't know, couldn't find, and ultimately may happen to themselves sometime, "Those are all viable. Don't worry about sounding crazy- it is all crazy. By definition things like what we can do are 'extra'-ordinary. Not ordinary. Unusual. " "And we've all come from normal life. And try to go one with it one way or another. Do you have team mates? Someone to patrol with or check in with to all know each other is safe?" "It seems like something that would be more suited to the idea of 'knights' - a cavalry- than floating space bodies that someone power teenagers and may or may not have other space objects gravitationally attached. If space object gravity has any actual bearing on the impulse to team in senshi, I haven't come across any. "
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Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 12:02 am
Aventine leaned back thoughtfully; Thraen had done some deep thinking and it was a good reminder that she needed to be doing some of that, herself.
…And to keep in contact with the people she was supposed to be patrolling with. "I keep in contact with a few people. Tortali, she's a senshi." Who she had been spending a little too much time with; had they been powered up she might not have felt bad, but sometimes you just needed cool down time.
Aventine couldn't imagine being the type of person to power up every night; she did what she could, when she could, but she knew she didn't have the stamina. "And another Venus Knight—Caelian. We keep in contact, and I usually go to her when I need advice. If anyone's got my back, it's them. And if they need anything, I'll be there for them. I guess war is a good time to make good friends?" she asked, rocking a bit on her heels.
Though the danger was very real, there was something refreshing about knowing someone had your back. That someone would fight for you. That there were unwavering bonds of loyalty.
They might have had their differences, but they were all fighting for the same thing. "Camelot's also got a group that I took some interest in, but I'm probably not the hardest worker of the group. I'm gonna work on it," she promised, though even she wasn't sure how likely that was. "What about you, do you have a team? Teammates?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 9:35 pm
"Tortali..." the tone was one that easily revealed he was not familiar at least on a name basis, but he had a feeling he hadn't met the senshi that Aventine was talking about. He hadn't met many in general, at least from the implied numerous numbers of their orders. Anything that could be counted on two hands or less couldn't be 'many.' "Do knights receive magic phones to call each other?" It would be nice to be able to find another person he could contact, but right this minute he found his faith in the ease of communication being poor- the magic that governed them all never seemed that convenient. "War is exactly the time that forges trust and friendship more than any other- the crucible of faith that either hardens or shatters what is put into it. Work with your allies as often as possible- to be alone is to be cut down one day or another. " She admitted flaws freely, and chastised/promised of herself- it was an openness that cracked Thraen's usual severe neutrality to a gentle half smile. It relaxed his own guard and shook his head slowly, admitting of himself something close as well, "No...no team. No teammates. No Partners. A few lifelines- Eternal Athene I met once, and Eternal Maia. Maybe Aquarius and Irene. The cat, *********. I hope, maybe, I am something of a friend to Medea? In the least we've met more than once. "
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:24 am
"Magical phones? I wish," she huffed; she would have loved to have a quick, easy way to access the other knights without having to exchange loads of personal contact information while out in the open. "Is that what senshi get? Mostly I've just sort of relied on wandering around, running into people, swapping names and emails and phone numbers when the situation arises. Which, I mean—this is a good situation, I think? If you ever need anything or want to go out and patrol with someone, I'm around. I'd be more than willing to share contact info. I might not have a cell, but I do have a pen," she said, fussing around to find what pocket she had stuffed it in.
She felt a sort of kinship with Thraen, if only because the names 'Athene' and '*********' were familiar to her.
"I kinda tend to go out more if I've got someone to keep me company. It's always easier for me to get out if I know someone's relying on me to keep them company or something. I mean," she pulled out the pen and a small scrap of crumpled paper, "No obligation or anything! But I always feel better knowing that if I need someone to have my back, they've got it. Or, I mean, vice versa—if someone needs me, I can be there for them."
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 8:41 pm
"Yeah, we get magic phones. You scan each other like a phone-xerox and then you can call or text each other. " The old school description, mundane emails and such, was so risky but so....normal. It was welcome, in a sad way, to hear that the senshi weren't the only ones up to their ears in one brand or another of organizational SNAFU. Using a regular email, though, really was too traceable. And honestly, so were IP addresses. That she straight up was offering to be company and patrol was enough to make his eyes go wide and take words away for a moment. "With me? " "...I would really like to have someone...I could call on, or be called on by. To patrol with. I'm grade-school recess level at fighting, really, and if we're talking video game terminology than my magic is just a status effect. People fall asleep wizard of oz style. I make flower beds. 'Gardens'...." "Having a partner sometimes would be great for taking prisoners or knowing what they were doing with their fists. " He had a throw off email that he'd created for fake signups, promotional mailings and other such things that he'd only ever used at the school public computers, so the IP would trace to the university.... "I have an email I can give you at least, for old school communication. It's a wonder we don't all get fake IDs when we sign up for this stuff."
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 8:22 am
Aventine laughed and nodded. "Lucky. I could use a new phone. But I guess there are more senshi than knights, so maybe you guys need them more?" Or maybe they were supposed to protect people and the knights were just supposed to protect places? She didn't know. There were too many things she didn't know. But at least she was talking to others and trying to get on the right track. "Fake identities would be super useful. And I mean—real, normal aliases. Not like I can walk around in public and expect to blend in when I'm all dolled up like this. Here," she handed over the paper and pen, "I'll send you an email so you can have mine, too!"
She took a more relaxed stance after handing over the pen and paper to add, "I'm still learning fighting, but I've been taking some classes. Mostly I just maul people like how you're not supposed to do in rugby, but you don't have to fight dirty when the people you're fighting aren't going to play by the rules. So—yeah, anytime you need someone, I'll be available. I like someone to keep me company, and there are just some things you need someone to have your back for. Strategies and all that."
Not that she was one for strategy—but being available and knowing you could call on someone was reassuring all the same. It felt less like fighting by herself and more like fighting for a greater cause.
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Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 8:03 am
"I think I would pay money to watch a version of rugby in unforms like we all run around in. " Besides, those shorts would look pretty cute in a scrum.Thraen jotted down the address in as clear of handwriting as he possessed before handing back the implements. "The primer said knights have magic...and channel it through items? Is that like a weapon? Or do you really get sent into this battle with just fists and a 'godspeed, good luck' ? Do the cats awaken you to your powers?" The primer didn't have much to say about knights, but maybe that was the fault of it being outdated now? He had no idea when knights appeared in the war, when the war started, or even when the primer was written. Timelines being fuzzy made some conclusions impossible.
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